So.....the lighting

[reverend_heat]

In an article posted back on May 17th on ESPN titled "Inside the return of EA sports college football video game", a multiple paragraph portion is dedicated to a brand new toolset created for real time lighting (GIBS Global Illumination Based on Surfels). Excerpt below:

"As the team started construction, they began to look at innovative ways to solve problems and tech they could borrow from other EA games or create themselves. McLeod said they realized they needed a new lighting system in the game to create the scale they needed -- Global Illumination Based on Surfels, or what they commonly call GIBS. GIBS is a dynamic, real-time lighting system that helps create different atmospheres in the stadium for a noon game, a 3:30 game or a night game, including how light might refract off helmets.

With GIBS in place, the team created a Stadium Toolkit, which McLeod said allowed designers and developers to almost go brick by brick, section by section to recreate stadiums to make sure the color schemes were correct down to the individual railings, tunnels and walls. It almost, McLeod said, became like a virtual Lego set putting it all together.

While there were some pieces from NCAA Football 14 they could use, those stadiums and mascots were built on a different engine for a different console. Not much would translate, so they had to start from the beginning.

Building an empty stadium took about a week depending on the venue, with Syracuse's JMA Wireless Dome among the trickiest because it was indoors and cavernous, so lighting had to be set up a bit differently than other schools. McLeod called it "the perfect storm of stadiums."

From what has been shown in the videos so far, the lighting and shadows do not move or change throughout the entirety of the game. This is probably most striking in QBJ's video where LSU takes on Oregon in the Rose Bowl. That bowl game in particular is known for starting in the daytime and ending in a night sky. It baffles me EA would tout this new GIBS tool, they themselves referring to it as a "brand new real time lighting system" and then upon release we would be left with a game long static lighting environment. I realize some people don't care about this at all, it just seems odd to me, the lighting looks so great in so many of the videos, but having it not progress or change at all is jarring and immersion breaking imo.

[Kid OS]

If I could like this post 1000 times, I would. It makes no sense how NCAA 08 still has the best lighting... 17 years later. My favorite part of NCAA 14 was playing a 3:30 gme that transitioned into dusk. I used to play games at the High School stadiums just so I could see the sunset better. Off topic, but Idek if we can play games outside of the home stadium anymore.

This week has had a lot of disappointments for me.

[reverend_heat]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kid OS

If I could like this post 1000 times, I would. It makes no sense how NCAA 08 still has the best lighting... 17 years later. My favorite part of NCAA 14 was playing a 3:30 gme that transitioned into dusk. I used to play games at the High School stadiums just so I could see the sunset better. Off topic, but Idek if we can play games outside of the home stadium anymore. This week has had a lot of disappointments for me.

Was it 08 that updated the lighting after every play? Yeah I spent so much time just taking screenshots in that one lol. I'm still hyped about the game for sure and I don't want to seem like I'm being negative, but after finally leaving behind the PS4 Xbox One era and publicly talking about a new real time lighting toolset to then have a static environment seems just insane. I mean Farming Simulator has legit progressive lighting for the love of God. Hopefully it somehow still makes it in but man, not looking great on that front.

[bigwill33]

Yeah, this will bum me out pretty hard. Everyone has their things with this game that are super important to them, and this is probably one of my top ones. Hard to believe it’s 2024 and we are still wanting day-night progression and dynamic weather effects in our sports games. Especially when EA has that technology in their other titles like Battlefield, etc. But here we are.

[stoncold32]

Was this patched into one of the games on PS3?

Maybe it's possible to do thus time?

[maw0200]

Quote: Originally Posted by reverend_heat

In an article posted back on May 17th on ESPN titled "Inside the return of EA sports college football video game", a multiple paragraph portion is dedicated to a brand new toolset created for real time lighting (GIBS Global Illumination Based on Surfels). Excerpt below: "As the team started construction, they began to look at innovative ways to solve problems and tech they could borrow from other EA games or create themselves. McLeod said they realized they needed a new lighting system in the game to create the scale they needed -- Global Illumination Based on Surfels, or what they commonly call GIBS. GIBS is a dynamic, real-time lighting system that helps create different atmospheres in the stadium for a noon game, a 3:30 game or a night game, including how light might refract off helmets. With GIBS in place, the team created a Stadium Toolkit, which McLeod said allowed designers and developers to almost go brick by brick, section by section to recreate stadiums to make sure the color schemes were correct down to the individual railings, tunnels and walls. It almost, McLeod said, became like a virtual Lego set putting it all together. While there were some pieces from NCAA Football 14 they could use, those stadiums and mascots were built on a different engine for a different console. Not much would translate, so they had to start from the beginning. Building an empty stadium took about a week depending on the venue, with Syracuse's JMA Wireless Dome among the trickiest because it was indoors and cavernous, so lighting had to be set up a bit differently than other schools. McLeod called it "the perfect storm of stadiums." From what has been shown in the videos so far, the lighting and shadows do not move or change throughout the entirety of the game. This is probably most striking in QBJ's video where LSU takes on Oregon in the Rose Bowl. That bowl game in particular is known for starting in the daytime and ending in a night sky. It baffles me EA would tout this new GIBS tool, they themselves referring to it as a "brand new real time lighting system" and then upon release we would be left with a game long static lighting environment. I realize some people don't care about this at all, it just seems odd to me, the lighting looks so great in so many of the videos, but having it not progress or change at all is jarring and immersion breaking imo.

I think you basically answered your question in the info you copied and pasted. It’s pretty obvious that it took a ton of work to get the lighting right in each of the 140-150 stadiums. Which to me makes it pretty obvious they just didn’t really have time to properly implement progressive lighting.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kid OS

If I could like this post 1000 times, I would. It makes no sense how NCAA 08 still has the best lighting... 17 years later. My favorite part of NCAA 14 was playing a 3:30 gme that transitioned into dusk. I used to play games at the High School stadiums just so I could see the sunset better. Off topic, but Idek if we can play games outside of the home stadium anymore. This week has had a lot of disappointments for me.

I would encourage you to hold off until you get the retail copy and see for yourself. Not saying that what we've seen isn't what the retail will look like. But...

These guys are showing footage from a Beta. We've seen in Madden Beta's where the lighting is off, only to be fixed in the final copy. Again, not saying this is the case with the college game. Just saying, we're about to find everything we want to know out in 3-4 days. If we don't want to buy right now, there is the 10 hour trial. I'd at least give that a shot.

[jbd345]

Welp, as a Syracuse fan this has me mildly concerned.